Amplifying Youth Voices: Anti-Vaping Research by Youth, for Youth

Today on the blog we're hearing from Chris McLain, Research Coordinator for Project SMART at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, who's going to tell us more about working on this research and why Project SMART is so important to learning more about nicotine and vaping habits in youth.

So Chris, tell us...

Who are you, and what do you do?

The use of nicotine vapes among young people has been a huge deal in anti-tobacco research in recent years, but one underserved (and over-impacted) group is LGBTQ+ youth. Big tobacco has been targeting the Queer community for years, and we’ve seen the effects of their marketing trickle down to young people in the community more and more. At the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, our Health Communication and Equity Lab, led by Dr. Andy S.L. Tan, has spent the last four years working to change that. Project SMART (Social Media Anti-Vaping Messages to Reduce ENDS Use among Sexual and Gender Minority Teens) focuses on creating social media messaging specifically for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults to lower their chances of starting nicotine vaping.

What has made your project successful?

The Project SMART lab team leading the way!

What makes Project SMART stand out is our collaboration with the youth we aim to reach. While there have been some studies that focus on LGBTQ+ youth, Project SMART’s research is committed to developing projects with and by them. Authentic representation isn’t just important for the quality of our research, it’s also vital in inspiring young LGBTQ+ people to see a path forward in their own lives and future careers. Through partnerships with organizations like SADD, we’ve incorporated young voices from across the country in every stage of the research process, from beginning to end.

How do you practice youth engagement?

Our approach is grounded in community-based research and guided by three core principles:

The thread that ties all our youth engagement principles and practices together is bidirectionality, which simply means that everything we do is a two-way street. It ensures that those we work with receive just as much as they have given within our partnerships.

Active and Intentional Partnerships

Creating messaging that truly represents LGBTQ+ youth starts by going straight to the source. We knew we couldn’t create messaging that resonated without first listening to the very youth we hoped to reach. This helped ensure we weren't feeding into stereotypes or otherwise hurting those we were supposed to be helping. We always made sure that we were checking in to see what was going well, what wasn’t, and how we could make things better. It was also really important to us to make sure we were sharing the power equally between ourselves and our youth collaborators. Young people led the way with their ideas and decisions, and we made sure to listen, be honest about what we could or couldn’t do, and explain why. We also kept a close eye on how many adults were involved in our activities, just to make sure it felt balanced between youth and adults and everyone could trust each other.

Integration of Ideas, Perspectives, and Skills

Youth involvement wasn’t limited to occasional input, they’ve been there every step of the way. They helped create recruitment videos, co-designed our anti-vaping messages, and offered feedback on our understanding of the findings. Early on, they shared preferences for social media content, which shaped our initial messaging direction. After message development was complete, our youth collaborators were able to put their content creation skills on display through assisting with writing scripts and creating videos we would ultimately use to recruit participants into the study. They’ve also played a key role in shaping how we understand findings. One highlight? Collaborating with future media professionals on a podcast about youth engagement a (and yes, you can listen to the episode here!).

Project SMART podcast recording.

Inclusivity and Mutual Respect

Mutual respect and inclusivity are at the heart of our work. As researchers, we constantly reflect on how to better protect and best utilize our youth partners’ time, energy, and ideas. Flexibility has also been essential; schedules shift, expectations need adjusting, and we must stay responsive to ever-changing realities. We’re also aware of how today’s political climate affects young LGBTQ+ people. This awareness shapes everything, from who we collaborate with to when and how we work together. Our goal is always to support and uplift, not overwhelm.

Bidirectionality

At its core, Project SMART’s youth engagement is built on the foundation of giving just as much as we take. Our youth partners pour incredible amounts of time, thought, and creativity into this project, and we always want to make sure that we are pouring back into them. While we benefit from their insights, they also gain experience in public health, communication, and research. Whether they go on to work in health communication or pursue other passions, the skills and experience they gain here are useful and apply to many areas of life and career. Further, we provide opportunities for those skills they’re already growing to be displayed in a new and interesting way. Beyond the research, the diversity within our research team shows our youth collaborators, many of them LGBTQ+ themselves, that there is a place for them in this world, despite the fears and challenges they may face. They become part of something bigger than themselves, and are instilled with power and purpose, and that is really what it’s all about.

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For more info or programming on substance prevention, kindness projects, and more, check out sadd.org/programs!